Lula da Silva expands ties with China amid tensions between Washington and Beijing

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silvavisit ended China which is a statement of intent on the roadmap that the South American country wants to follow, a path that passes through the Asian giant amid growing hostility between Washington and Beijing.

During a meeting this Friday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Lula advocated deepening ties with the Asian giant “outside commercial interests” and took up the challenge of “true multilateralism” supported by China, betting on the unification of the economies and markets of Brazil and China. in the face of the disengagement advocated by the United States.

Xi said Lula da Silva that their relationship “will play a key role for global stability and peace”, and at the end of the meeting, both sides released a joint statement agreeing that dialogue was “the only solution” to end the war in Ukraine.

The statement reflected that Brazil “positively perceives” China’s position on the conflict, which the West criticizes for putting “aggressor and victim” on the same plane, and both sides agreed to maintain an “exchange of views” in this regard.

The two countries also agreed that “the impact of climate change cannot be ignored” and called for “strengthening cooperation in environmental protection.”

Except, Lula da Silva and Xi Jinping presided over the signing of 14 agreements on strengthening ties in the commercial field, phytosanitary protocols, technology, development, energy transition and other areas of cooperation under the bilateral strategic alliance.

Among the commitments is the establishment of direct commercial transactions between Brazil and China in yuan “without the need for dollarization”, as well as the construction of the sixth satellite produced by the two countries, CBERS-6, which will track the biomass of the Amazon rainforest.

PROMOTION OF THE NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK

Lula, 77, had a busy schedule on his last day in China: in addition to Xi, he also met with Prime Minister Li Qiang and Legislative Chairman Zhao Leji, and laid a wreath at Tiananmen Square.

He also met with Zhang Zhigang, president of China’s state-owned power grid operator State Grid, a company that has invested heavily in Brazil’s power infrastructure in recent years.

The President of Brazil, who has just completed one hundred days in office, arrived in the country accompanied by 8 ministers, 5 governors and more than two hundred business leaders, and his first stop was Shanghai, where he received his successor in office since 2011. and in 2016, Dilma Rousseff became the new head of the BRICS Development Bank, a forum that Brazil is integrating with Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Not surprisingly, the joint declaration expresses support for both countries to advance “a more open, inclusive and balanced economic globalization.”

And the New Development Bank (NDB), which will be led by Rousseff, meets, according to Lula, “all the conditions to become a great bank in the Global South”, with “innovative funding models that can attract public and private resources to maximize profits.” influence”.

The NDB, with a capital of $100 billion, is focused on financing infrastructure projects and seeks to become an alternative for developing countries to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB).

“We need partners to re-industrialize South America, and China can do a lot,” Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad, who accompanied Lulu on the trip, told state-run CGTN.

SYMBOLIC VISIT TO HUAWEI

During his stay in Shanghai, Lula also visited technology company Huawei’s research and development (R&D) center, which has been at the epicenter of the hurricane for years due to sanctions imposed by the United States, which consider it a danger to its national security.

“The visit to Huawei is a demonstration that we want to tell the world that we are not biased in our dealings with China”Lula said during a meeting with Xi.

During the week, the Chinese press emphasized that Brazil, although the United States considers it part of its backyard, is determined to increase its ties with China.

“Previous President Jair Bolsonaro started with all this anti-China rhetoric and trade almost doubled. Nothing can stop Brazil from moving closer to China, and now that a left-wing leader like Lula da Silva will return, bilateral relations will be strengthened,” said Chinese analyst Hu Xijin from the official newspaper Global Times.

However, he adds that his administration cannot be considered “pro-Chinese” either, and recalls that the Brazilian leader also visited the United States in search of a balanced foreign policy.

Both sides described Lula’s trip as a “complete success” and the Brazilian leader invited Xi to visit Brazil in 2024, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

(EFE)